A man carrying a can of gasoline and a .357-Magnum shot wildly
into a crowded Carlsbad elementary school playground ---- hitting
two girls ---- and reloaded his gun before witnesses tackled and
disarmed him Friday afternoon, authorities and witnesses said.

Late Friday, police identified the gunman as 41-year-old Brendan
L. O’Rourke, of Oceanside. They said he would be booked into the
Vista jail on six counts of attempted murder and numerous weapons
violations.

"The guy came to do destruction," said witness Terry Lynn, one
of several men who helped detain the gunman until police arrived at
Kelly Elementary School in central Carlsbad.

Lynn said the man had extra bullets stuffed into his pockets.
Police found a propane tank near the suspect's car in front of the
school.

Police said three construction workers working at the campus
---- Steven Kane, Mario Contreras and Carlos Partida, all of Chula
Vista ---- apprehended O'Rourke after hearing shots and students
screaming.

Carlsbad Police Lt. Kelly Cain said two girls ---- ages 6 and 7
---- each were shot in their right arms and were flown by
helicopter to Rady Children's Hospital. He said their injuries were
not life-threatening.

One second-grader, Caden Smith, said the injured girls ended up
in a classroom with him.

"One (girl), her arm was covered in blood and all you could see
was red," Caden said. "The other (girl) .... there wasn't that much
blood."

The school, with about 450 students, went on immediate lockdown
after the shots were fired. Carlsbad Unified School District
Superintendent John Roach said teachers ushered the children inside
classrooms within three minutes.

Kelly third-grader Tommy Donahue said he was playing outside
with other first-, second-, and third-graders when he heard what he
thought were "firecrackers."

"Once the noise happened, everybody decided to scream and run
for the classroom," Tommy said.

The boy said he and fellow students were sent into their
classrooms, where teachers turned off the lights "for a long time,
but there was nobody talking."

"Five or six people in the classroom were crying," Tommy said
later as he stood next to his mother, Dana Donahue. "I felt safe in
the classroom."

When the shots rang out, Kane, Contreras and Partida ran toward
the commotion and saw O'Rourke firing a handgun near the school,
police said.

Police said Partida jumped into his truck and struck the
suspect, knocking him down, as the other two men chased him over a
fence. The three then held O'Rourke down until officers arrived,
police said.

Witness Lynn said he heard the shots from his home above the
campus, jumped in his car and headed to the school to help and saw
two of the construction workers tackle the man.

"It was very chaotic and very scary," Lynn said.

He said he helped hold down the gunman, who was carrying a
.357-caliber handgun and a gallon of gasoline, which was in an
orange container.

Scott Chandler, another neighbor who helped detain the gunman,
said he was in his driveway when he heard the shots and ran to the
school.

"Kids were scattering everywhere," Chandler said. "The guy just
kept shooting. I believe he reloaded once."

Two construction workers "ran into the line of fire" to stop the
gunman, he said, adding that he helped keep the triggerman pinned
to the ground.

"I tried to talk to him and ask him why he was shooting at
kids," Chandler said. "By that time, he was face down in the dirt,
and not happy. He grunted a little bit."

As Chandler spoke, grateful parents stopped to shake his hand
and thank him for his bravery.

Upon hearing of the shooting, parents raced to Laguna Riviera
Park at Kelly and Park drives, while police conducted a
room-to-room search of the campus.

Parents who rushed to the scene were in tears as they waited to
hear what had happened and whether their kids were OK.

"My mind is crazy right now. I am dying to hear what is
happening," said Alexandra Espidella, the mother of four children
at the school, as she waited.

When one of the injured girls was carried on a stretcher to a
waiting helicopter, parents in the crowd gasped and sobbed.

Why the man armed himself with guns and potential explosives and
randomly targeted children remained unknown.

"We're not getting any statements from him," Carlsbad Police
Chief Gary Morris said earlier Friday. Cain said the gunman gave
police three different names ---- including a woman's name.

As O’Rourke was transported to the Carlsbad Police Department
for questioning, he complained of pain to his back and neck and was
transported to Scripps Memorial Hospital for treatment. He was then
released for booking, Cain said.

Throughout the evening, police and FBI agents were at the
school, working to gather evidence. A four-door, tan, mid-size
sedan O'Rourke drove to the school remained a center of
investigative focus.

Kelly Elementary has been at the center of controversy over the
last several months after parents suggested there may be some toxin
present that was giving people cancer, and demanded the district
test the soil. School officials have said that tests show the
school is safe. There was no known connection between the shooting
and the soil controversy.